How does a teacher use questioning effectively? This workshop will focus on writing those questions that engage students, spark their curiosity, help recap material, give you insight into their thinking, or help them learn critical ideas in physics. We will focus on "peer instruction" -- a research-tested method of requiring students to discuss challenging questions with one another. We will investigate the surprising power of multiple-choice questions to achieve critical thinking skills. Finally, we will look at writing questions that align with our goals for students, discuss the elements of effective questions, and practice writing questions and work on improving them.

1. The Gentle Art of Questioning
WRITING GREAT CLICKER
QUESTIONS
Dr. Stephanie V. Chasteen
Physics Department
&
Science Education Initiative
Univ. of Colorado at Boulder
http://colorado.edu/sei
Web and blog: http://sciencegeekgirl.com
Email: stephanie.chasteen@colorado.edu

2. Who are you?
What is your primary role?
Show of hands
A. STEM faculty
B. Administrator
C. Teacher educator
D. Education researcher
E. Graduate student or post-doc
F. Other

3. Have you used response systems (clickers) in
your teaching?
Take a clicker & turn it on
If the green light flashes, your
vote has been counted
A. Not at all, and I haven’t seen them used
B. Not at all, but I’ve observed their use somewhat
C. I’ve used them a little
D. I’ve used them a lot
E. I could be (should be?) giving this workshop

4. How familiar are you with Mazur’s “Peer
Instruction”
Colored cards
A. Fairly familiar, and I like it
B. Fairly familiar, but I’m not sure that I like it
C. I’ve heard of it but only have a vague idea what it is
D. Not familiar at all
E. Not sure

5. Introducing Me
5
Science Education Initiative
http://colorado.edu/SEI
Applying scientific principles to improve science
education – What are students learning, and which
instructional approaches improve learning?
Physics Education Research Group
http://PER.colorado.edu
One of largest PER groups in nation, studying
technology, attitudes, classroom practice, & institutional
change.
Blogger
http://blog.sciencegeekgirl.com

6. Why question?
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Credit: Rosie Piller whiteboard

8. Agenda
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1. When and how we can ask questions
2. About clickers as a way to ask
questions, including some common challenges
3. Writing good questions. Example
questions, writing our own.
4. Action plan
Learning goals: Participants will be able to….
A. Explain several benefits of questioning and of using clickers to question
B. Defend the use of best practices in questioning to overcome common
challenges
C. Formulate and revise clicker questions to target student learning goals

9. Exercise #1: Question brainstorm
10
 What questions could you ask to help students
achieve your assigned learning goal -- to test mastery
and stimulate learning?
 Brainstorm as a group
5 minutes
whiteboard

10. When can we ask questions?
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BEFORE
Setting up instruction DURING
Motivate Developing
knowledge
Discover
Predict outcome Check knowledge
Provoke thinking Application
Assess prior knowledge Analysis
Evaluation
Synthesis
AFTER Relate to big picture Exercise skill
Assessing Demonstrate success Elicit misconception
learning
Review or recap
Exit poll
Credit: Rosie Piller and Ian Beatty.

11. We can ask questions in lots of ways
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 Ask rhetorically
 Target the class (how?)
 Target someone in particular (in what order?)
 Answer your own question
 Leave the question unanswered
Or ask out of class
 Blogs
 Discussion boards
 Homework…
Credit: Rosie Piller

12. Why use clickers to target the class?
An outline of Peer Instruction.
13

13. Clickers are a tool for questioning
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But not a magic bullet!

14. Anatomy of Peer Instruction
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Ask Question
…Lecture… (Maybe vote)
Class Discussion Peer Discussion
Vote
* See also: Peer Instruction, A User’s Manual. E. Mazur.

15. How is a clicker question the same or different?*
16
* From other types of in-class questions
 Similar in terms of goals
 Multiple choice
 Anonymous (to peers)
 Every student has a voice – the
loud ones and the shy ones
 Forced wait time
 You can withhold the answer
until everyone has had time to
think (choose when to show the
histogram)
What does this tool help
us to do?

16. U. Colorado clicker resources…
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Videos of effective use of clickers 2-5 mins long
http://STEMvideos.colorado.edu
Clicker resource page
http://STEMclickers.colorado.edu
• Instructor’s Guide
• Question banks
• Workshops
• Literature / Articles

17. Which of these could be clicker questions?
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BEFORE
Setting up instruction DURING
Motivate Developing
knowledge
Discover
Predict outcome Check knowledge
Provoke thinking Application
Assess prior knowledge Analysis
Evaluation
Synthesis
AFTER Relate to big picture Exercise skill
Assessing Demonstrate success Elicit misconception
learning
Review or recap
Exit poll
Credit: Rosie Piller and Ian Beatty.

18. Let’s try it
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Which superpower would you
rather have? The ability to…
A. Change the mass of things
B. Change the charge of things
C. Change the magnetization of things
D. Change the boiling point of things
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Question: Ian Beatty, UNC Greensboro Image: Thibaultfr on Wikimedia

19. Example question: Math
Your sister in law calls to say that she’s having twins. Which of
the following is the most likely? (Assume she’s having
fraternal, not identical, twins)
A. Twin boys
B. Twin girls
C. One girl and one boy
D. All are equally likely
20
Derek Bruff, Vanderbilt

20. Example Question: Survey
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Which of the following are you least comfortable using to solve
problems?
A. Kinematics
B. Newton’s Laws
C. Work-Energy Theorem
D. Momentum-Impulse Theorem
E. Angular Momentum-Angular Impulse Theorem
Ian Beatty, UMass Amherst

21. Let’s try it
I think the toughest thing about using clickers
and peer instruction in class will be:
A. Writing good questions
B. Getting students to really think about them
C. Getting students to discuss the questions
D. Getting students to share their ideas in the class
discussion
E. It takes too long / I have a lot of content to cover
Or something else? Write it on your handout!
What are some *solutions* to some of these challenges?

22. Some “best practices” and solutions
We’ll do these quickly
These are repeated in handouts
 Underlying philosophy to most of these “best
practices” are:
“It is important for students to discuss their
ideas, to feel safe doing so, and for the
teacher to be aware of those ideas”

23. 1. Ask Question
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What are some challenges/ things to consider
when posing a clicker question?
•Ask several times during lecture
•Ask challenging, meaningful questions
•Don’t post until ready
•Give time to read (read silently)
•Don’t read question out loud
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Handout/worksheet / whiteboard

24. 2. Peer Discussion
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• Students learn more deeply by
teaching each other
• Makes them articulate answer
• Lets you see inside their heads
Why is peer discussion
important? What are challenges /
how can you help make it work?
•Make it clear why you’re doing this
• Circulate and ask questions / model
•Use questions they want to discuss
•Allow enough time (2-5 mins)
•Focus on reasoning in wrap-up

25. Student buy-in is key!

26. 3. Wrap-Up Discussion
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Challenges?
What might you
do to facilitate an
effective wrap-up
discussion?
•Establish culture of respect
•Consider whether to show the
histogram immediately
• Ask multiple students to defend their
answers
• Why are wrong answers wrong and
why right answer is right

27. Giving the answer stops student thinking!
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28. Preparing to Write Questions
 Read briefly over the “tips for writing clicker
questions” handout. Which is going to be most
challenging for you?
 Then, in groups of 2-3, choose one of the questions
that you brainstormed at the beginning of the
workshop. You will write a multiple choice version
of this question (but not yet!)
3 minutes

29. Gallery Walk
 As a table, look at the “example questions” trio that I
have given you. What’s a common theme(s)?
 Write the themes you find down on the sheet so that
other groups will be able to read it.
After 5 minutes, circulate to see the themes of
questions on other tables.
Shop for ideas for your own questions!
See handouts for a place to jot your notes.
10 minutes

30. Question brainstorm

31. Exercise #3: Writing Questions
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 Using ideas you’ve learned, write a multiple choice
version of your question in groups of 2-3.
 Look on the “Sample Questions” handout for some
examples.
 Show your question to another group (and to me) for
suggestions on revising it.
 If you have time, write another question from
another part of the questioning cycle.
10 minutes

32. Action Plan
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 Take a few minutes to write down your action plan to
implement ideas you heard about in the workshop

33. References & Resources
Web and blog: http://sciencegeekgirl.com
Email: stephanie.chasteen@colorado.edu Thanks!
 Clicker Resource Page from the Science Education Initiative:
http://STEMclickers.colorado.edu. Has clicker question banks (in the sciences), an instructors’ guide, and
videos of classroom use. Useful books (such as Eric Mazur’s Peer Instruction are cited there.
 Workshop handouts will be uploaded to the above website, or email me.
 Many materials in this workshop (particularly the questioning cycle and the participant exercises) were
adapted fromRosie Piller, Making Students Think: The Art of Questioning. Short papers published in:
Computer Training & Support Conference, 1995; ISPI International Conferences, 1991 and 1996; ASTD
National Conference on Technical & Skills Training, 1990. Related workshop description at
http://www.educationexperts.net/nstworkshop.html
 Other materials (particularly sample clicker questions and goals of clicker questions) adapted from Ian
Beatty’s Technology Enhanced Formative Assessment (TEFA) program. http://ianbeatty.com/crs
 My upcoming travel: Chicago, West Virginia, Pittsburgh. Need a speaker?
 Upcoming free webinar for K12. See flyer.

34. Learning Goals
 Biology: Recognize the components of a cell and
describe why each is necessary for the function of a cell
 Physics: Identify the different ways that light can
interact with an object
(i.e., transmitted, absorbed, reflected).
 Chemistry: Explain trends in boiling points in terms of
intermolecular interactions
 Earth science: Understand the formation of the three
major types of rocks (igneous, sedimentary, and
metamorphic) and the processes by which they
form, relating them by the rock cycle.
 Math: Solve a system of linear equations in two
variables using algebra or graphing.

35. What Do I do if…?
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What can you do if you ask questions and..
 There is no response
 The same people keep raising their hands
 The answers are called out before everyone has a
chance to think
We’ll discuss in
 The answers take too long Workshop #2.
For now: Many of
 Someone gives a wrong answer these challenges are
 Only some students are prepared addressed by clickers
?